For a number of years Ards, Bangor and Donaghadee had women training at each of the clubs with the former having been able to turn out a team for a couple of seasons.

However, numbers could not be sustained and it was towards the end of the 2017/18 season that the 3 clubs came together to play in a few friendly matches against Queens University Belfast. It soon became evident that there was the potential for an amalgamated team, so, over the off-season, the girls put in a huge amount of effort to get the players from each of the clubs together to form the North Down Women’s Rugby team.

The team was originally launched at the start of the 2018/19 playing season with Allianz Insurance providing the sponsorship required to purchase a playing kit, an arrangement that has continued over the last four seasons.

This is a unique arrangement within Ulster Rugby. While the team play in North Down colours, the players remain members of their individual clubs who provide the coaching team, training facilities, pitches and changing rooms.

During the 2018/19 season the team were entered into the Conference League where their performances improved throughout the season as the team grew in both numbers and experience. They also reached the final of the Regenerate Shield at the end of their first season.

The development of the team continued when they entered the Women’s Championship League in the 2019/20 season. Again, confidence began to grow and the reward for this hard work was their first league win. Yet again they were successful in their cup campaign, reaching the final of the Suzanne Fleming Cup against Dungannon Women. Unfortunately, they were unable to play this match as the country shut down due to the Covid pandemic and the cup was shared. Despite this the squad continued to keep in regular contact and managed to get together for training in small groups as restrictions were relaxed. By the end of the 2020/21 season they were finally able to arrange some friendly matches against the newly formed women’s team from Ophir and local rivals Ballynahinch.

This season (2021/22) the team finished 5th in the Women’s Championship which was played between September and December. With the league being restructured to facilitate additional women’s teams they are now embarking on a second league campaign. They are also entered into the cup competition which will be played out over the next few months.

While North Down is still a relatively small squad in comparison to other clubs, things are looking promising for the future with a healthy youth setup at each of the 3 clubs. The team have already seen the benefit of the youth systems with 3 players moving into the senior team already this year. Several of the senior players in the squad have already taken up coaching roles with the youth teams at their home clubs, this providing the opportunity for girls to learn and participate in the sport and taking forward the development of female rugby in the North Down area.

At Ards, the movers and shakers in the North Down Women's team are, among others, Gary Presho, Jill Shaw, Victoria Presho and Julie Patterson with Jill Shaw at the helm of Ards Junior Girl's rugby. in relation to the latter section, special mention should go to Abi Carson who, in season 2021/22, represented Ulster on the U16 Girls 7s team.